Feedback on Ballston Children's Center and Rosslyn Children's Center

[Anonymous]

bump..

[Anonymous]

I recently took a tour of Ballston Children's Center (BCC) and had the same reaction as some of the previous posters. I didn't like that all the classes went to the playground at the same time. I would imagine some of the older, bigger kids might take over some of the playground equipment and it might be hard on the younger kids? They also do that for meals (all children eat in one big cafeteria at the same time). It seems like a lot of children in one space at once and a lot of chaos, so I'm wondering if any parents or staff can comment? Maybe it's not as big a deal as it seemed to me and I would love to hear feedback.

When I toured Rosslyn Children's Center (RCC), they discussed breaking the children into smaller groups within their classroom for many activities, and also serving meals family-style in their classrooms, with teachers and children eating together.

[msales]

If you are interested in the Rosslyn Children's Center, Go for it! RCC has always been a great Center! Over the past five years RCC has progressed so much under the leadership of it's current director. You couldn't ask for a better director who's very involved with her staff,children, parent's and the outside community. RCC is a community where you wake up in the morning and feel proud that you are apart of something so great! RCC is a community where you leave in the evening and feel like you have accomplished something. Whether it was with a child , a parent, administration, or a team mate.The staff at RCC are very professional individuals whom are very passionate about children. RCC is committed to building relationships with it's families,staff, children and the outside community. RCC is a place where amazing really happens!

Anonymous wrote:We just got into RCC and I'd be interested in learning more about he Infant-A room if anyone has feedback. It looks great, but I wonder if there might be any negative feedback. Or, is there anything that they are particularly good at?

[Anonymous]

[e-mail] wrote:Does anyone have some feedback on the Ballston Children's Center or Rosslyn Children Center? We are looking at both day care options for our daughter. Good and bad feedback is appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Rosslyn Children's Center seems to have lots of staff turnover lately. See the listing activity on the job posting site http://www.idealist.org/view/nonprofit/ZnpXpK2s5dFP/

We find the environment too chaotic and are actively working to leave. Very frustrating and not good for our child.

[Anonymous]

Have other RCC parents found this to be the case? We have a child scheduled to join the young 3s class next year, but have just been offered a spot at another center. I would be very interested to hear from other parents of currently enrolled children. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

NP here - our daughter has been at BCC for 2 years now, and we've been happy there. The playground really hasn't been an issue - I pick her up from afternoon playground time every day and it's very well-supervised. The older kids play together and the younger kids play together and kids can mingle with kids they know from other classes. (who might just be 6 mos younger.) I've never seen an older kid run over a younger kid or hog the equipment. They all play together in the common room in the mornings, too, and it's pretty harmonious.

[Anonymous]

Another BCC parent here - we had two kids go there, my youngest is about to start K so this is our last few weeks with them. We have been happy, I never found the playground to be an issue - in fact it was positive for my kids, who are 2 years apart and overlapped at BCC for about 6 months - the older one played with the younger one all the time and I thought it was great! There is some teacher turnover, that is true, but in our almost 5 years there each of the rooms had a constant teacher presence - this is especially true in the youngest group, where two of the three teachers have been constant the entire time we were there (and well before that from what I understand). The teachers do rotate some among classrooms, which I don't think is a bad thing, because this way all the teachers know all the kids, which comes in handy at the playground, for instance. I also liked that they offered part-time daycare, something that we took advantage of for a few years when I was only working part-time.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 children, one is a RCC alumni who attended from 2.5 - 5.5, the other is just shy of his 4th birthday and has been at RCC since he was ~12 weeks old. Our experience with the center has been fantastic and I cannot say enough good things about it. Both of my children have enjoyed their time there, made wonderful friendships, connected with teachers, and ultimately have grown socially, emotionally, physically, and academically. My older son was very well prepared for kindergarten, and I attribute that in large part, to his time at RCC.

The teachers genuinely care about the children. During drop-offs and pick-ups, I am routinely asked how my older son is doing, etc. While there has been some turnover amongst the staff, I don’t see it as anything out of the ordinary with respect to the child development center environment and there are still many very tenured staff.

The current Director has done a great deal to continually improve the center. She has championed and implemented an "emergent curriculum" that is very stimulating and exciting for the children. The entire RCC “community” is truly that, a community that works together to better the center. RCC enjoys wonderful commitment from the Room Parents; they work together with the teachers and other parents on various community initiatives including numerous philanthropic activities that teach our children the value of helping others.

If it is not abundantly obvious at this point, I highly recommend RCC!